Quim Monzó (Barcelona, 1952), a fiction writer, columnist and translator, is one of the leading and most representative figures of contemporary Catalan literature.

He works as a graphic designer and press correspondent and, in 1976, published his first novel, L'udol del griso al caire de les clavegueres, which was awarded the Prudenci Bertrana Prize. He soon made a name in the genre of short stories with works like Uf, va dir ell (1978), Olivetti, Moulinex, Chaffoteaux et Maury (1980), L'illa de Maians (1985), El perquè de tot plegat (1993) and Guadalajara (1996). These five books have since been revised and brought together in a single volume, Vuitanta-sis contes (1999), for which he received the National Prize for Literature and the "Lletra d'Or" Prize in 2000. He has also written the novels Benzina (1983) and La magnitud de la tragèdia (1989). Again, Quim Monzó has written a vast number of articles. In this domain, the books El dia del senyor (1984), Zzzzzzzz (1987), La maleta turca (1990), Hotel Intercontinental (1991), No plantaré cap arbre (1994), Del tot indefens davant dels hostils imperis alienígenes (1998), Tot és mentida (2000), El tema del tema (2003) and Esplendor i glòria de la Internacional Papanates (2010) constitute a sample of Monzó's lucid gaze.

He has translated such authors as Truman Capote, Roald Dahl, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Miller, J.D. Sallinger and Mary Shelley, amongst others, while his own works have been translated into some twenty languages. In 2007, he gave the opening speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

In 2002 he received the Jaume Fuster Prize of the Catalan Language Writers. In 2018 he was honoured with the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes.

See his work translated into English.




Web page: Toni Terrades for AELC. 

Documentation: Toni Terrades. 

Translation: Julie Wark.
Photograph: Author's personal files.